Lena Dunham Has A Message For ‘Conservative White Men’

Actress and author Lena Dunham joined Bill Simmons on his podcast, The B.S. Report, to discuss the controversy and amount of pushback she received for her book, Not That Kind of Girl, when she aimed a comment at “conservative white men.”

She suggested that conservatives were attempting to smear her politically by using her words from within her book at the same time she launched a Planned Parenthood campaign and again right before the midterm elections.

“I don’t care what conservative white men think about me. But I do care if anything I write is painful for survivors of sexual abuse, if anything I write is painful for other feminists,” Dunham said. “The difference between not caring about how you affect people whose values line up with yours is very vast.”

She saw herself as the victim of conservatives, despite describing herself as a “sexual predator” in her book while pursuing her younger sister.

“It was very painful to be accused of being things that I know I’m not,” she said, “and to sort of have what I thought was a very natural childhood experience and curiosity vilified.”

It was this “curiosity” that sparked much of the “conservative” pushback. In her book, she descriptively explores her sister’s genitals and coerces her sister to kiss her using methods a “sexual predator might.”

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In spite of her dislike for conservatives, she managed to offer them a back-handed compliment.

“One thing I’ll never say about right-wing websites. They’re good at what they do,” speaking of their ability to incite controversy. “They know how to do it. They line it up and they knock it down.”